1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention relates to testing a control system including a valve.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Control valves of control systems for subsea fluid production wells are often operated infrequently (e.g. every 6 months or less). A problem is that there may be a fault in the system which would not be apparent until the well operator tries to operate the valve. Discovery of the failure in an emergency situation could be disastrous.
Systems according to embodiments of this invention enable the well operator to be given advance notice of a failure, thus substantially reducing the possibility of discovery of a system failure only in an emergency situation. Systems according to embodiments of the invention frequently test the communications, control circuitry, monitoring circuitry, wiring to the valve and a solenoid coil of a solenoid for operating the valve, without actually operating it. Thus, if it is known that there is a problem before the function is actually needed, reliability can be increased by scheduling such a test during scheduled maintenance.